Glimpses
by Lucifer Rosemaunt
Summary: ErikRaoul slash. 1 sentence, 50 themes. All slash, maybe.


Fandom: Phantom of the Opera  
Disclaimer: Please don't sue. I don't own *insert fandom name from above*... All I own is an overactive imagination.  
Summary: 1 sentence, 50 themes. All slash.  
Warning(s): slash  
Pairing(s): Erik/Raoul  
Word Count: 1,542

A/N: These are surprisingly difficult. 50 ideas all summed up in a single sentence? I'm not that concise.  
Story note: Check out the 1sentence challenge on livejournal. (Hopefully I've posted it there already.)

o.o.o.o

Glimpses  
By: Lucifer Rosemaunt

o.o.o.o

#1 ring: He had let her keep it of course, but sometimes he liked to imagine just how Erik would've reacted if he'd given it to him instead.

#2 hero: Erik nearly balked at the words "my hero" spoken in such a teasing manner, but he was compelled to believe they weren't meant mockingly since Raoul had yet to release the tight hold around his neck after having nearly tumbled off the catwalk.

#3 memory: Raoul was certain a ghost followed him wherever he went, watching him with a heat that left him strangely comforted, and despite not remembering the slightest details about himself or his life before he'd woken from the coma, he was certain that it was normal.

#4 box: As with everything else, this was _theirs_; Raoul only let Erik think Box 5 was his personal space.

#5 run: His lips still tingling from the force of such a bruising kiss, Raoul was seriously beginning to doubt Christine's assertion that the ghost's newfound interest in him would go away after having run its course.

#6 hurricane: Clothes, papers, misplaced furniture – it only took a week of Raoul's presence in his home before he realized that the boy himself was a walking natural disaster in more ways than one.

#7 wings: Erik peered around the wings of the stone angel only to find that Raoul had every intention of keeping his promise to arrive with chocolate and a bouquet of flowers.

#8 cold: It had happened enough times already but the cold reception he received from Raoul after returning from Christine's tutoring sessions always managed to please him.

#9 red: Raoul knew life was simply a slow deterioration, but it wasn't until he saw the too vibrant red stain on his handkerchief after Erik coughed that he realized the end had already caught up to them.

#10 drink: The only thing that numbed the pain of loss, the sting of regret, and the dread of tomorrow was the amber liquid that sloshed in his already unsteady hand, and every night he searched the bottom of every bottle for a ghost that had never truly been his to begin with.

#11 midnight: Watching Raoul sleeping peacefully, Erik held his breath until the twelfth stroke of the chime rang and marked an entire year of _them_.

#12 temptation: It was in the way he moved, talked, sang, and if he were honest with himself, it was definitely in the way that he had danced that evening at the masquerade.

#13 view: Box 5 not only had the best view of the stage, but also the best view to see blond hair catch the candlelight, head thrown back in unbridled laughter at something Erik had been too distracted to see.

#14 music: Despite the rumours and warnings, Raoul didn't think walking deeper into the opera house to find the source of that melody could be that dangerous.

#15 silk: It was better than the brief touches he'd managed in the past, and now that he had Raoul unconscious and in his arms, he indulged in the need to run his hand through Raoul's hair.

#16 cover: "I thought business trips usually entailed you traveling away from Paris, not secreting away beneath it," Erik smirked at Raoul, "… not that I mind of course."

#17 promise: "It doesn't matter if Christine comes back because I love you."

#18 dream: "You, I know you… I've heard you in my head, in my dreams."

#19 candle: It was only when the last flame went out did Raoul finally sense his presence.

#20 talent: "It's one of your most endearing qualities…" Raoul grinned, "besides your penchant for dramatics of course."

#21 silence: It took a week of silence from the ghost to understand that both their verbal and physical arguments, the annoying persistence with which Erik seemed to follow him, and the unexpected notes weren't the ghost's way of terrorizing him, or at least, weren't meant to _maliciously_ terrorize him.

#22 journey: Broken and bleeding, Raoul leaned heavily on his rather unexpected companion, struggling to speak, "It wouldn't have been worth it without all this effort, right?"

#23 fire: Torn between victorious and empathetic, Raoul gestured vaguely at the still smoldering opera house, "At least you don't have to think too hard about whether you want to move in with me or not now."

#24 strength: "Say you love me or hate, but just say it now because I haven't the strength not to know any longer."

#25 mask: If there was one thing they could agree on, it would be their dislike for his mask: Erik because of what lay beneath it and Raoul because of what Erik refused to share.

#26 ice: The first time Raoul heard Erik laugh was on his back after having slipped on a patch of ice hidden under snow on the roof of the Opera Populaire.

#27 fall: Standing together on the Chagny estate with Raoul close but not quite touching, Erik watched as auburn, crimson, and gold drifted down from branches, and he realized he'd never known the beauty of the seasons until just now.

#28 forgotten: It was his punishment, of course, that after refusing him for so long, the accident would make Raoul forget about him completely just after Erik finally realized his affections.

#29 dance: It _was _as awkward as he'd argued it would be, but Erik realized it was completely worth it since he'd convinced Raoul to let him lead.

#30 body: He screamed (definitely didn't shriek) and it was only after catching sight of the ghost from the corner of his vision that Raoul realized the body that had dropped from the catwalks was only a prop.

#31 sacred: In a fit of rage, he would call it madness later, Raoul attacked Erik the only real way he knew how to, by destroying the half completed composition.

#32 farewells: As every parting began to feel like final good-byes, Raoul wondered just how much longer he'd be able to bind them together.

#33 world: The one thing that both frightened and comforted him was that there was nothing in this world, in fact, nothing in heaven or earth that would stop Erik from obtaining what he wanted.

#34 formal: Erik would never admit it, but Raoul's ire and his subsequent reaction of becoming almost stiffly formal in his address only made him more attractive.

#35 fever: He _had _to be ill because the flush of his cheeks and the sudden heat that seemed to flood his entire body could not be a reaction from the ghost grabbing him so forcefully.

#36 laugh: Erik found himself allowing more comedies to be performed in his opera house only because something in Raoul's laugh completely erased the irritation he felt upon seeing the poor excuse for humour those operas resorted to.

#37 lies: "If Christine comes back, I'll gladly let you go to her."

#38 forever: "You had better understand that when I say I love you, it doesn't mean for now, or for the time being, but for forever."

#39 overwhelmed: Contrary to how much Erik thought he craved it, and he _did_, when Raoul began to touch him more intimately, he couldn't help but pull away, so unaccustomed to touch as he was.

#40 whisper: Every small action was like a whispered confession, but while he appreciated such small tokens, Raoul couldn't help but want forceful declarations of love.

#41 wait: The lack of time between her disappearance and Erik's sudden attraction to him only made Raoul more insecure.

#42 talk: "Talk, like you said you so desperately needed to," Erik ordered, staring at the Vicomte expectantly, "or else I'll simply dispose of you right now."

#43 search: The violent thudding of his heart made him queasy, and each hollow echo of his footsteps as he journeyed deeper into the cellars of the opera house made him fear the state Erik would be in, if he were still here to begin with.

#44 hope: The Vicomte hadn't shied away.

#45 eclipse: Raoul knew Christine was like the sun; everything he tried to do to garner Erik's attention was eclipsed by her brilliance.

#46 gravity: As much as he tried to ignore, to stay away, to avoid, time and again Erik found himself inexplicably drawn to Raoul's side.

#47 highway: Despite his constant warnings, Raoul never seemed to understand the dangers of travelling, which was why being able to prove his point by kidnapping him dressed as a highwayman had been entirely warranted.

#48 unknown: There had been an increase of unknowns in Raoul's life – when he would see Erik again, when they would end, when Christine would return – but he'd learned that it was best not to worry about them and simply hold onto what he did know while he still could.

#49 lock: Every time Raoul passed the door to the room that Erik kept locked at all times, he wondered if everything had been a lie.

#50 breathe: "You breathe a word to anyone that I looked at you with anything less than derision, much less that I saved your life, and I will kill you… multiple times if I could somehow manage it."

o.o.o.o

End ficlet

A/N: Don't forget to R/R (Read and Review)!  
Chapter Review: I thought this would be a nice diversion to keep me writing, until I learned that one sentence is not enough! D: Half of these are almost partially cheating. Thank goodness for semicolons. I fail at keeping things to a single sentence, but I did get some interesting ideas from this exercise. For instance, amnesia!Raoul kind of popped up several times, didn't he? It's been done before of course, but it doesn't stop the evil plotbunnies.

I don't know why, but I think #30 is my favorite. And #40, I wanted to just put "It whispers at first but it ends with a shout." The only problem is that it's a direct quote (so it seems like I'm cheating). Regardless, if you know off the top of your head where that quote is from, we should be lifelong companions.


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